The Oncoming Storm
by MissJayne
Summary: Stolen technology, dangerous weather, and a hostile team to babysit. With a dash of Probie-taunting. Just a normal day then. Lily!
1. Prologue

_A/N1: Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! There are minor spoilers for my previous Lily stories, but there shouldn't be anything else._

_A/N2: I've always wanted to try writing something completely from Lily's perspective, and I finally worked out a way. I hope you enjoy it!_

_For_ _SJ, to cheer her up. The exam will be fine... take more deep breaths!_

The Oncoming Storm

Chapter 1: Prologue

Cold. Wet. Darkness. Sand.

Sand?

Somewhere in the back of her mind, wet and sand made a connection.

Beach.

What was she doing on a beach?

It took Lily another moment to realize she was lying on her back, in a puddle of water.

Not just a beach then. She was lying on the shore. A sandy shore – anywhere in the world.

The heavy rain was pelting down on her face, and she forced herself to open her eyes and sit up.

She felt awful. Her whole body was screaming with various reactions. Her stomach was churning, her arms felt like lead pipes, her head was throbbing, her left ankle hurt…

She could barely see anything. The storm – it couldn't be anything but a storm – was raging full force around her. The waves were crashing against her side, even though she was lying in the shallows. The wind howled around her ears. She was soaked to the skin.

Her clothes! They could give her some idea of what was going on. She glanced down to find herself dressed in a shirt and black pants. Not so helpful then; she wore outfits like this every day.

She reached for her cell phone and was not surprised to find it soaking wet. She could see water behind the screen. Wincing, she put it back on her belt. The insurance company would go mad again.

She automatically reached for her gun next, but it wasn't there. Panic rose in her throat. What had she done with it? She patted herself down quickly, looking to see if she had stashed it somewhere else, and was even more disconcerted to find she had misplaced her knives as well.

Lily summed the situation up in her head as fast as possible.

No idea where she was. Bad weather. Unarmed. No cell phone. No idea how she got here in the first place.

Her teeth began to chatter and she decided to try moving. It wasn't as bad as she feared it would be. None of her bones seemed to be broken, although her left ankle appeared to be twisted. She hauled herself to her feet and forced herself to walk. For now, she chose to walk along the edge of the water. The waves were huge, but they would offer her some protection if anyone came after her.

She counted her footsteps so she could approximate how far she had traveled. One hundred meters. Two. Three. She rubbed her hands up and down her arms in an attempt to keep warm. Her heels were getting stuck in the wet sand, causing her to reach down and take them off. She decided against throwing them away for the moment; they were her only weapons.

At five hundred meters, she stopped and reassessed her situation. She still had no idea where she was, but she was feeling a little warmer. Her memories were still fogged over, as though someone had exorcised her demons. She felt light and relaxed, even while she was lost. She vaguely recalled arguing with LJ, but she always argued with LJ. She couldn't even work out what the argument was about; for all she knew, it could have been something that took place a year ago.

She closed her eyes against the relentless rain. Was it worth going on? Should she give up? If she sank to the sand, she doubted she would ever rise again. Could she do that? Could she really give up everything she had?

She heard her name on the wind, and gave a little smile. Maybe giving up wouldn't be so bad.

The wind roared again, and she was almost blown over. Her name came again. Not the one she chose to use, but her given name. The one so few people called her any more.

_Lilith._

It came again. Visibility was getting worse. She knew if she left the shoreline, she would go around in circles. She could not wait the storm out; it was too fierce and she was too weak. Exhaustion began to creep up on her.

_Lilith._

She made up her mind. She was going to lie down and go to sleep. Nothing mattered any more.

_Lilith._

The wind sounded closer. She tried to sift through the mud in her mind. Who called her that anymore? Jenny did, sometimes. Her boss, Arbourne, when she did something particularly spectacular. Alex…

_Lilith._

With a jolt, she recognized the voice. It was not the wind, but Alex.

"Lexi," she yelled, as loud as she could. It didn't sound very loud to her; the wind whipped her cry away. "Lexi, help me!"

"Lilith!" came the corresponding cry.

"Moio sudno na vozdušnoy poduške polno ugrey!" she replied. He would get the joke, if he could hear her.

"Plamennaya malyishka," he replied. She could barely hear the words, but knew what he was trying to say anyway.

She stayed where she was and eventually he almost fell over her. She collapsed against him, happy to feel his familiar warmth.

Her fiancé led her carefully back to his SUV. She guessed it was about 200 meters from where he'd found her. Evidently, she had been walking in the right direction. He put her in the back seat, and passed her a towel and some dry clothes before settling in the front.

A few minutes later, she clambered into the front passenger seat and gratefully took the coffee he offered her.

"Well?" he asked.

"What the hell am I doing here?" she shot back.

He stared at her briefly. "What is the last thing you remember?" the Russian questioned.

Lily thought hard. "Monday," she finally told him. "Monday morning."

"Okay."

"What day is it?"

Silence.

"Monday morning. I was finally off stupid Archives duty after the whole Gilman affair. What day is it now?!"

"Thursday evening."

"Damn." She couldn't think of anything more appropriate to say.

He let her recover from the shock. "Monday morning. We will work through your memories. It should help you remember what happened. What is the first thing you remember about Monday morning?"

* * *

_Moio sudno na vozdušnoy poduške polno ugrey – My hovercraft is full of eels_

_Plamennaya malyishka – Little red_


	2. Project Indigo

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! I've finally finished the xmas fics, so you have something else to look forward to._

Chapter 2: Project Indigo

_He let her recover from the shock. "Monday morning. We will work through your memories. It should help you remember what happened. What is the first thing you remember about Monday morning?"_

* * *

She smirked. "You mean after _that_?"

He had a matching smirk on his face. "Good start."

Lily closed her eyes and allowed her mind to drift back.

* * *

_Monday morning_

A very faint light filled the bedroom, but Lily did not bother to turn on the light. Sunlight would have to do. She did not wish to wake Alex up.

She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the paper in her hands. Part of her said she should be wearing gloves for this, but her rational side kicked in to remind her that it had already been checked for fingerprints and she did not care about chain of evidence. This would be dealt with by her and her alone.

The dim morning light made it hard to read, but she reread it anyway. Anger burnt inside of her and she vowed to sort this out. She sighed and glanced at the alarm clock. 0400. Far too early for her to get up and harass people again.

Except possibly LJ. But he couldn't help her with this.

She sighed again and forced herself to get up. After hiding the paper in her wardrobe, she padded across the floor and into her spare room. Jenny was fast asleep, dead to the world. Lily let a small grin cross her face; she had tucked Jenny in herself earlier and threatened to shoot her if she went anywhere near a case file.

The cots at the end of the bed called to her, and she double-checked the twins had not suddenly learnt to walk and disappeared. Nothing had changed; Camilla and Rose continued to sleep, their little chests rising and falling.

Lily remembered watching her son when he was an infant. She had spent long nights staring at him, checking he was breathing. She had barely been able to leave his side for fear he would die, just as her husband had.

She took a deep breath to steady herself, and turned her thoughts away from those dark days. Jasper was fine. He was sleeping in his dorm at his school. She had spent the previous day with him and they had been to the zoo. All of them. Jenny had argued that the twins were not old enough to appreciate the animals, but Alex had countered it would be a nice day out for everyone.

Her cell phone rang in the other bedroom and Lily rushed to answer it. She was the only one awake and wanted it to remain that way. She snatched the phone up without checking the caller ID and answered it.

"This had better be World War fricking Three," she hissed.

"I am going to pretend I didn't hear that, Agent Shepard," came the reply.

Oops. Her boss, Arbourne. Not the best person to annoy this time of a morning.

"How fast can you get into my office?" he continued.

Lily glanced at the alarm clock again. "Depends. If I had a jet pack –"

"Just answer the damn question!" he roared.

She grinned. Winding Arbourne up was her specialty. "Half an hour," she guessed.

"Make it twenty minutes," he told her before hanging up.

* * *

Lily walked through the CIA headquarters, unsurprised at the busy activity around her.

People rushed around, yelling orders, knocking things over, kicking the vending machines, and generally getting in the way. The CIA was about the only federal building which did not get quiet at night. There was always a crisis somewhere to worry about.

Lily was glad she did not have to deal with this place day after day. Processing intelligence reports would drive her up the wall. Long missions – sometimes undercover, sometimes not – with danger and complications suited her fine. Sitting in an office all day was Hell.

Even if she covered for Jenny sometimes, but that was only for the change of pace.

She dodged an agent on a coffee run – literally – and ducked into the elevator. Agent Blain was the only other occupant, and she was busy quacking like a duck. Lily knew her idiosyncrasies hid a brilliant mind, so did not interrupt.

By the time the elevator reached the correct floor, Agent Blain had started mewing like a cat and Lily was glad to escape. She ploughed through a group of people discussing how accurate the British television show Torchwood really was, before diving into Arbourne's office.

He was not yet present.

Lily breathed a quick sigh of relief. Using her time wisely, she began to root through his desk. Chocolate, heart medication, chocolate, emergency coffee, half a dozen untraceable cell phones, a camera...

In Lily's opinion, cameras were fun. Not because you could take pictures, but because you could look at what other people had taken pictures of. She switched it on and started trawling through the images.

Nothing really interesting. Vacation snaps mainly. And also –

"Drop that camera right now!" Arbourne ordered, sweeping through the door like an ogre.

"Does the Director know you have pictures of a topless woman on here?" she asked, staying where she was.

He snatched the camera from her hands and returned it to his drawer. "One of these days," he warned. "Someone is going to kill you for aggravating them."

Lily shrugged her shoulders. Everyone wanted to kill her anyway. "There a reason you dragged me out of bed, Louis... I mean Loius."

The glare he shot her way warmed the cockles of her heart. "Probie work."

"You don't have to tell me again. Hanging sprigs of poison ivy on the door handles and telling the Probies that such plants are edible is wrong."

"You put five Probies in the hospital!" he screamed at her.

"And they have learnt a valuable lesson: Never believe everything someone tells you."

Arbourne shook his head in despair. "I am giving you a Probie job."

"My clearance –"

"Is the main reason you're getting it. Sit."

She took a chair opposite him and settled down.

"A piece of highly classified military software has gone missing from a Navy laboratory in Norfolk. For obvious reasons, we cannot read the agents investigating this into exactly what the software can do."

"I have the clearance to know about it," she guessed.

"You already do; it's Project Indigo."

She closed her eyes. Jeez.

"It will revolutionize warfare," he continued.

"I am well aware of what it will do," she snapped. "How did this happen?"

"Your job is not to investigate. All you need to do is stick with them, make sure they don't stumble across anything classified, and check we retrieve the correct object."

"What does it look like?"

"It looks like a camera memory card."

"Great," she scowled. "I'm going to have to get every possible suspect to hand over all their photos."

He rolled his eyes. "Get over it. I'd give this job to a Probie, except you have the necessary clearance and you know these people."

Lily stood up to leave. Her hand was on the door when Arbourne called out to her.

"I suggest you stop hiding things."

Lily snorted. Like _that_ was ever going to happen.

* * *

The lab was small, stuffy and full of computers. Three things Lily did not like.

To make up for that, LJ and his team were in attendance. They all looked very tired, as though they had all been asleep when the call came in. Lily was capable of being quite petty when she was short on sleep.

The drive from Langley had been good. No one was on the roads so early in the morning, so she had been able to put her foot to the floor. She had even outran a traffic cop on a motorbike. Arbourne would be given the speeding ticket. She wouldn't actually give it to him, but she had borrowed his car from the parking garage so any tickets would not be in her name.

He had told her it was an urgent national security matter. How could he fault her desire for wanting to get stuck in?

"Found anything interesting?" she asked, making them all jump.

"I was hoping for a different ghost," Ziva complained.

"Spook," Tony corrected. He took another picture with his camera. "No idea what we're looking for."

LJ stepped right into her personal space. "Read us in," he ordered.

"Stolen technology, worth a lot of money… what else do you need to know?" she retorted.

"If I have to go over your head…"

"To whom? Arbourne? He'll tell you to come straight back to me. You don't need to know anything else. If the situation changes, I'll let you know."

LJ looked homicidal. The rest of his team didn't look too happy either.

"Have you found anything?" she asked again.

"Plenty of fingerprints," Tony noted. "But they could belong to anyone who works here."

"I'm trying to access the records to see who was here at the time of the theft," McGee added. "But it's a strange system so it might take me a while."

"It would really help if we knew more about Project Indigo," Ziva hinted.

Lily resisted the urge to shoot someone. Why did everyone think they knew better than her?


	3. Babysitting

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! I forgot to mention in the last chapter: Agent Blain is based on one of my friends. She's currently trying to persuade me to bring her back, but not lop off any of her limbs. Spoilsport._

Chapter 3: Babysitting

Lily bobbed her head along to the music. Someone singing about turning into a zombie was not normally her cup of tea, but she could cope.

LJ's team had finally realized they could glean nothing more from the lab for the moment, and had adjourned to the Navy Yard. Lily wasn't particularly fussed with where she was, as long as she had some coffee and someone to bug. LJ had kicked her out of the squad room after ten minutes. Apparently, he did not like it when she switched his keys around on his keyboard.

Spoilsport.

Instead, she watched as Abby scanned fingerprints into the system and tried to get a match. Lily normally stayed away from the tech wing of the CIA, unless she needed a favor. They were too geeky for her liking. Abby on the other hand…

Abby was Abby. She was currently bouncing up and down, swinging her pigtails along to the music. She was always extremely happy, which cheered Lily up.

Some things needed to stay constant.

Finally, the Goth sat down next to Lily and began tapping away at her keyboard. "I'm trying to see who was in the building when the theft occurred," she explained.

Lily was curious. "How are you doing that?"

The Goth looked delighted to have to opportunity to educate someone. "The whole building works on keycards. You scan your card into each section. In the event of a fire or other assorted emergency, the rescuers know exactly how many people are in which areas."

"So," Lily concluded. "You can work out who was in the section at the time, and thus give us a definite list of suspects."

Abby beamed. "You're smart."

"It was logical," Lily pointed out. "And you have to be smart to join the CIA."

"Ziva told me you're engaged," Abby pried. "Is he hot?"

"Gorgeous," she replied.

* * *

_Thursday evening_

"You can tell me the truth," Alex teased.

"I told her you were as ugly as sin and I was only with you for the money," Lily teased straight back.

He elbowed her. "What money?"

Their laughter filled the car for a few moments. "Back to what happened?" Lily suggested.

"Please."

* * *

_Monday morning_

"Have you set a date?" Abby almost squealed.

"Not yet. Alex keeps joking at this rate it's going to end up being a double wedding."

"With who?"

"Jenny and LJ, he reckons."

"Do you know why they aren't talking again?"

Lily sighed. "Can't tell you."

Abby pulled a face like a kicked puppy. "Please? It's so sad to see Mommy and Daddy fighting."

"You can't solve it."

"Everything is solvable. Is that even a word? Solvable? It is now!"

Lily chuckled. "It is a word. It's not possible to solve everything with a magic wand, Abby. I'm working on sorting it out, but sometimes it needs to take a backseat to others things."

"So it's something you can solve?"

Lily considered her words carefully. "Not necessarily. I can do something, but I can't rush it."

"Why not?"

"For the same reason you don't rush your samples; some things cannot be rushed. Change of topic: who is hotter? George Clooney or Brad Pitt?"

* * *

Lily strolled into the squad room after Abby's music had finally given her a headache. She went directly to LJ's desk and found the aspirin hidden inside. Dry swallowing two, she snagged a chair from a Probie and sat down in the middle of the work area.

LJ was still glaring at her over the aspirin, and probably had not quite recovered from her keyboard game earlier. It didn't worry her; if she let the little things bother her, she would never get anything done.

Tony had shot her a quick grin, before returning to his attempts to charm someone on the phone. Lily decided that his main fault was his knowledge of how handsome he was. If he were oblivious, she guessed he would be nicer.

She still liked him. He was handsome and funny, although she would definitely need to bring him down a peg or two. She had hoped the whole 'tying him to a bed' incident would do some good, but he just stayed away from her.

Pity.

Ziva clearly had not forgiven her for playing with Tony, and did not seem too happy over the Gilman affair. Lily felt the whole Gilman thing was not her fault, regardless of what her boss said. She had done everything possible to keep Jenny away from work, and she could not be blamed if Jenny had managed to wake up when dosed with sleeping pills.

She had already bought a supply of laxatives for next time. She didn't know when the 'next time' would be, but it helped to be prepared.

McGee accepted her more than the others, probably because of his innocence. He reminded her of a puppy: cute and loyal. If she said 'jump', he would ask how high. If she asked for help, he would grant it to her. She was still resisting the desire to break into his apartment and read the next Gemcity book, especially as she now knew about a character named Lil Tipford.

She wondered if it was worth prank calling Arbourne to give her something to do. Or Darlene. Perhaps she could send Darlene on another wild goose chase. She knew she would end up in serious trouble, but it didn't worry her. Arbourne was not particularly imaginative, and she could cope with anything he threw at her.

Although this babysitting malarkey was getting on her nerves.

NCIS was not about to stumble across any national secrets. The software was heavily encrypted and she doubted they would be able to break through it.

Even though she did know the codes. Sometimes the geeks needed to remember not to pick something too obvious.

"You just going to sit there?" LJ growled.

"I was thinking of starting a conga line," she offered. "Or asking if anyone wanted to try some naked mud-wrestling."

LJ stared at her. "I need coffee," he mumbled.

"Pick some up for me while you're there," she demanded. "I need a caffeine fix and your coffee here is dire."

The stare turned into a glare.

"Got something!" McGee called.

Lily leapt out of her chair. "At last!"

* * *

Lily returned her sister's curious look. Jenny had called for an update just as they were leaving, and LJ had decided to stay and brief her. Lily had immediately decided that she might be better suited to staying behind as well.

LJ had muttered dark comments all the way up the stairs and into Cynthia's office. Cynthia had not realized it was Lily in front of her and become confused. Only Jenny's intervention had stopped Lily from creating more chaos.

LJ had chosen to stand in front of Jenny's desk, so Lily had decided to copy him. It was a nice little game for now, nothing too strenuous. It had the other advantage of winding LJ up. The only downside was what Jenny would do when she realized the latest game.

"Missing technology and national security," Jenny started. "Why did neither of you inform me of this?"

"Because it's not my job?" Lily suggested instantly. "I don't answer to you."

Jenny shot her a look which said 'keep quiet or else'.

"I was more focused on locating the technology before it fell into the wrong hands," LJ answered.

"What exactly is this technology?" Jenny questioned.

LJ shrugged his shoulders. "Ask the spook. She won't tell us."

"Sorry," Lily replied. "It's need to know _and_ your clearance isn't high enough even if you did need to know."

"How high is your security clearance?" Jenny tried.

Lily grinned. "A lot higher than yours. Honestly, it's not relevant to your job. Your job is to find the tech, my job is to make sure you don't accidently view anything classified. The classified part does not say where the tech is now."

"She's got a point," Jenny conceded.

LJ looked as though he would like nothing better than to throw her out the window. "She's got a point?! Whatever is on that tech is important enough to steal, so my people need to know it too."

"Rubbish," Lily smirked. "You want to know only because you do not currently know. If you don't know but I do, that gives me the upper hand and you'd like nothing better than for me to be rolling in the dirt."

Jenny cleared her throat. "I think Lil is trying to say that curiosity killed the cat."

"It could kill my team," LJ warned.

"That's bull and you know it," Lily answered. "No part of the software is going to leap up and bite your behind. All you need to know is that you don't need to know."

"Enough," Jenny ordered. "Do you have anything yet?"

"The keycard system shows only three people were present at the time of the theft. We've been able to narrow the window down to between 2300 last night and 0100 this morning," LJ informed her.

"And he's just sent the rest of his team to pick up our three suspects," Lily added.

"Do they have names?" Jenny inquired.

LJ looked puzzled. "Yeah?"

Lily understood. "I haven't heard of them before, but I wasn't following the people working on the project. I'll start calling around later, if you'd like."

"Great," Jenny groaned. "How long until they get here?"


	4. Interrogation

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! Hope you enjoy a chapter based in Interrogation..._

Chapter 4: Interrogation

Dexter Boxall was a plump man in his late twenties. He was short, with a wispy beard and no moustache. Lily disliked him on sight.

Lily did not have a gut as well attuned as LJ, but she trusted her initial feelings about someone. More often than not, they were accurate. She had already decided Boxall would be an angry man. He would fly into a rage at whatever he was asked and accuse everyone of being out to get him.

This did not bother her. Everyone liked to accuse her of everything, from the janitors ("Rigging the urinals to electrocute someone is not permitted") to Darlene ("Park your car in my space again and I'll shoot a hole in your tires") and Arbourne ("Telling the Probies that we operate on Zulu time is neither humorous nor clever").

Lily could certainly handle anything this oxygen thief threw at her.

LJ had chosen to conduct all the interviews with her. He knew they worked well together when she wasn't actively trying to do something to him. He had warned her to behave during the interviews, which had made her smirk. She would behave, unless she felt she would get better information by misbehaving.

Boxall worked as a janitor in the same block as the stolen technology was stored. He might not know what was on it, but he had access. His keycard claimed he was present around the time, so he could be either a witness or a suspect.

LJ was obviously planning to treat him as a suspect, and Lily agreed. This was not going to be an easy interview.

"Gibbs," LJ introduced himself as. "Shepard," he pointed at her. "Where we you between the hours of 2300 and 0100?"

Boxall decided to explode immediately. "Why are you treating me like a suspect? I have the right to an attorney and I want one now!"

"I'm going to count to five," Lily told him. "Then I'm going to start breaking fingers."

"You can't do that!" he protested. "I know my rights!"

"Yeah?" she grinned. "I don't give a damn about your rights. Answer his questions, or I'll start breaking fingers."

"I was at work," he yelled as she approached. "I'm supposed to clean the labs between 8 in the evening to 2 in the morning."

"Odd hours," LJ noted.

"It's to minimize disruption to the geeks. They pay me double time; who am I to argue?"

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Did you see anyone doing anything they shouldn't have?" LJ tried.

Boxall snorted. "Nah. They're all a bunch of tightwads over there, know what I mean?"

Lily picked up one of his fingers.

"Hey, little lady," he shouted. "Get your mitts off me!"

"Don't," LJ warned her. She was barely hanging onto her control. No one called her a 'little lady' and got away with it.

"Control your woman," Boxall sneered at LJ.

Lily snapped his finger like a twig and he screamed. She put her mouth close to his ear. "I am nobody's woman," she hissed. "Got that?"

* * *

Lily found a smile on her face as Kieran Holland entered the Interrogation room. Dreamy eyes, short black hair, tall, handsome…

* * *

_Thursday evening_

"I like him already," Alex observed with a smile on his face.

"Shut up." Lily punched his arm lightly.

"So, when are you two getting married?"

* * *

_Monday afternoon_

Lily cast her mind back to what she knew about Holland. He worked in tech support at the lab. As far as she could tell, this meant he kept the computers running while the techs themselves worked on the classified stuff. She suspected it was not a hard job; the techs should be capable of fixing their own computers.

Nevertheless, someone had to keep a computer network running. She knew firsthand just how bad it could be if a system went down. The last time it had happened at the CIA, the bosses had sent everyone they could home, while people not working on classified things were sent to the FBI and everyone else traipsed over to the NSA. Arbourne had hit the roof over the move, while Lily had held a gun to the Director of the NSA and demanded he let them take over some rooms.

Arbourne had supplied her with coffee for a week after that.

Holland smiled warmly at Lily, so she decided to lead the interview.

"I'm Agent Shepard," she told him. "And this is Agent Gibbs. Feel free to call him LJ."

Holland laughed. "I guess you know my name or I wouldn't be here."

She perched on the table in front of him. "Kieran Holland, 33, tech support" she recited from memory. "You live in Silver Springs and you drive a Mini Cooper. Never been in any trouble with the law, not even a parking ticket."

"You've done your research."

She smiled back at him. "That's my job."

"So, what's happened to get NCIS involved?"

"A piece of software has gone missing, sometime between 2300 and 0100 last night."

"And you think I might have done it." It was a statement rather than a question.

"I have to check."

"Well, I don't have the best alibi," he admitted. "Nothing really happened with the network last night and I was the only one on duty. I stared at a monitor for most of the night."

"Didn't see anything? Didn't hear anything?"

"Nothing. Sorry I can't be of more help. You single?"

She smiled, not answering.

"I can take you to dinner? Take your mind off the case for an hour?"

"I'd like that," she divulged.

* * *

"You do not under any circumstances agree to go to dinner with a suspect!" LJ yelled at her after Holland had left.

"I might be able to charm something out of him," she protested. "Maybe he has his suspicions, or he noticed something so small he thinks it's insignificant. I can get him to open up."

"Did you pay any attention when they taught you how to interview a suspect?!"

"I've never conducted a formal interview before. Normally, I get the intel and call for backup. Or I take the guy down myself. Someone else does the official interview."

"Your interview technique stinks," he growled. "I'll deal with the last one. Only speak if you need to. Do not flirt. I don't care if this guy is…"

"Hugh Laurie?"

"Who?"

* * *

Fred Trotter was an average looking man. This set Lily's radar off immediately.

He was average height, average weight, averagely dressed, with average hair. He would be able to slip in and out of a crowd, and anyone who saw him would have a hard time describing him.

Lily knew she would have picked his man for an operation immediately, if she were only going by his looks. No one would be capable of picking him out in an identity parade.

The problem with her idea was that Trotter was clearly nervous. Tony had let him into the Interrogation room half an hour ago, while Lily had observed from the next room. Trotter had paced up and down, bitten his fingernails, and ran his fingers through his hair so much that she had been tempted to enter the room and put him out of his misery. LJ was happy to let him stew.

For what she had managed to gather on him, Trotter was in charge of a small group of techs. These particular techs were not working on Project Indigo, but Trotter must have heard of it and know a lot. She wondered if he knew more than she did. It was quite possible; she only followed the project when she was in town. She didn't actively seek the latest news.

Though she wanted too. Indigo was an amazing idea, and she wanted to follow every new step. Her job tended to get in the way of this.

At last, LJ stuck his nose around the door to Observation and beckoned her to follow him. For once, she did as she was told.

Trotter jumped a foot in the air when LJ flung the door open. Lily hid a smirk.

"I'm Gibbs," he started. "That piece of useless rubbish is Shepard." He didn't point her out this time. She gave a little wave as she settled in the corner. Out of sight, out of mind.

"Sit," LJ ordered. Trotter practically fell into the chair. "Talk."

"Whatever happened, I didn't do it. I swear. I'll take a lie detector test. I'll sign something. I swear on my own life, I didn't do it."

LJ decided to cut him off before he ended up giving himself a panic attack. "Know anything about Project Indigo?"

Trotter opened his mouth to speak but Lily was quicker. "Don't answer that question," she warned. "His clearance isn't high enough."

Trotter closed his mouth. LJ glared at her.

"Where were you between 2300 and 0100?" was his next question.

"In my office, doing paperwork," came the reply. "It tends to build up during the day so I stay late and finish it off. I left at 0121 and drove home. Didn't go back to work until 0900 this morning. What happened?"

"You know the exact time you left?"

"The clock in my office is broken; it's always 0121," Trotter admitted.

"See anything suspicious?"

"My office door was closed and I was dealing with a huge pile of papers! Short of a bomb, I wouldn't have noticed anything."

Lily watched LJ roll his eyes. Three suspects with no alibis. How could this get any better?


	5. Revolt

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! Been sleeping on the floor for the last two nights, and have finally persuaded my visitor to let me have the bed tonight - hurrah!_

Chapter 5: Revolt

Lily topped up Jenny's drink without saying a word. The afternoon had finally turned into evening, and she was desperate to get some sleep.

As luck would have it, Jenny had managed to get completely stressed out after a few rounds with the SECNAV. Being a wonderful sister, Lily had decided to get her drunk and watch a movie.

A typical girl's night in.

The twins had been dispatched to their usual babysitter and Alex had called from the CIA to say he was going to be very late back. In return, Lily had put some Bailey's Irish cream in a blender with some ice cubes, to make a kind of intense milkshake. The sisters had managed to become rather drunk while trying to watch one of Lily's favorite programs.

It wasn't a movie, mainly because Lily had not been able to rent one, but it did the trick. Jenny was struggling to follow the finer points of the plot, while laughing at an American in World War Two uniform charging around Wales in the present day. The sisters had immediately agreed that he was hot, and were happier to ogle him than figure out why everyone was sleeping with each other.

Strange British programs.

They sat on the floor, backs against the couch. For some reason, they found it easier to sit on the floor while drunk. They were snuggled up close, sipping their strange concoction.

"Don't go down there!" Jenny screamed at the TV.

"Don't be stupid, JL," Lily smirked. "The beautiful woman has to be caught by the goons or the story would get boring."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Relax. Drink more alcohol."

Jenny sighed as she finished her glass again. "I'm going to have one serious hangover in the morning."

Lily shrugged her shoulders. "You won't be worrying about other things then."

"Are you really going to get him?"

"I am going to get him and put a bullet in his tiny skull. Quit worrying about him. Abby wants to know why you and LJ aren't talking."

"What did you tell her?"

"The usual. Not my place to say and all that rubbish."

"It is your place to say. You do realize that Abby is going to be on my back now?"

"Give her a Caf-Pow; she'll be happy. Spin her a story. Tell her Suicide Commando have released a new album."

"I should tell Jethro."

"If you tell LJ, he'll overreact. I guarantee it. Do not tell him anything."

"Deal with it then."

"I'm trying! In case you haven't noticed, I'm a little busy running after classified software at the moment! I've got people working on it."

"Tell them to work faster."

Lily snorted. "I told each and every one of them that this was a test of their abilities and if they didn't do well enough, I'd kill them for being potential security leaks. Believe me when I say they're working as fast as they can."

They settled down again, laughing as the American man on the screen tried to boss someone around.

* * *

The next morning, Lily sat in the squad room, head in her hands. All the alcohol the night before was now rebelling against her in the form of a hangover. Still, Jenny had drunk more and would be suffering exactly the same effects.

And she had a meeting with Condi a bit later.

Lily had thrown the ice cream tubs away before driving into work. Rocky Road was perfect for banishing the blues. She wondered if she should send Darlene a few tubs. Just to help out, of course.

LJ had been surprised to see her in so early, but had hidden his shock well. She had ordered him to keep her supplied with coffee, while he had smirked at her hangover.

Ziva had arrived next, throwing her bag onto her desk with a brisk "Morning." Lily could not understand how anyone could be so chipper at 0630. No one should be awake at that hour, let alone happy.

McGee had shown up with five minutes to go, running into the squad room as though he was being chased by a pack of wolves. His computer had been up and running within seconds of his butt hitting his chair. It took another thirty seconds for him to deal with his email.

Tony had been the last one to arrive. This did not surprise Lily. He had emerged from the elevator, singing a song at the top of his voice. LJ had glared at him, cutting Tony off mid-note. To his credit, Tony had winked at her before sitting down and checking his phone line still worked.

Same old Tony.

"Oi," LJ grumbled in her direction. "What was your take on the interviews yesterday?"

"Any one of them could have done it," she replied.

"Even the one you were flirting with?"

"I didn't get any bad vibes from him."

"Bad vibes," Tony commented. "You sound like Abby."

"And yet you trust his coffee-filled gut," she retorted, jerking her head in LJ's direction.

"We need to know more," LJ pointed out. "You need to read us in better."

"We've had this argument," she warned. "I am not reading you in any further than you already are."

"We know nothing! It's going to revolutionize warfare. So what? Every project going on is going to revolutionize warfare if you listen to all the hype."

"Tell me something I don't know."

"What's so special about this one?"

"Erm, it really _is _going to revolutionize it?"

LJ slapped his desk in frustration and stood up. "I will go over your head," he remarked.

"Arbourne will give me a raise then. I'm doing my job if you guys are in the dark."

"Not _this_ in the dark! Your job is to help us find the tech."

"No, my job is to keep you guys from knowing what's on the tech. I'm doing my job well if you haven't a clue."

"We need to know what's so special about it so we can find it."

"You only need to know that we consider it special and a lot of people would love to get their hands on it."

"If you don't –"

"What will you do? You can't touch me and you know it. You can scream at me all day, correct, but Arbourne already does that. You could get your pet Mossad Officer to torture me, but I'd just clam up. We're playing this by my rules, whether you like it or not."

* * *

The team were somber when they entered Abby's lab a few hours later. The argument had only raised the tension between NCIS and the CIA.

Abby's music did not reflect this. It pounded away, far louder than it should have been. Lily's head began to pound along with it, and she continued to curse her idea of drinking the previous night.

All she really wanted to do was curl up into a ball and die. Or harass Arbourne until she felt better. She wondered what she'd be doing if she was over at the CIA. She guessed it would involve tormenting some more Probies. Or perhaps inventing a new language for the translators to puzzle over. They had gone crazy with her last Navajo file, and she debating whether to write another eternity code.

Not writing it herself, but finding someone who could do it for her.

At least Jenny would be in as much pain as she was. Whose bright idea was it to use Baileys? Agent Wofford had mentioned it, now she thought about it. Something about seeing it in a commercial? Regardless, Wofford was going to have to take care for the next few days. Lily had more than one idea of how to get back at her.

Lily gave in to her urge, and turned the CD player off. Peace at last.

"Hey!" Abby objected.

"My hangover trumps your happiness every time," she replied.

"No it doesn't."

"Option one: the music goes off. Option two: I start shooting up the lab. Take your pick."

LJ rested a comforting hand on Abby's shoulder. "Let the ass-kisser have her way," he soothed. "You're smarter than her."

The Goth beamed.

"Why don't you ever praise us?" Tony whined.

"Because you don't deserve praise?" Lily mused aloud.

Everyone glared at her. "I have a hangover. Be nice," she warned.

"What have you found, Abs?" LJ asked her.

Abby smiled again. "Well, oh great one, I have found an interesting deposit in one of your suspect's accounts."

"Translating 'interesting' into 'suspicious' would be accurate?" Lily checked.

"Oh yes," Abby confirmed. "Take a guess as to whose account is was?"

"Boxall," she suggested.

"Bingo! And Lily wins the prize! Hang on, are you Lily? You aren't really Jenny are you? Because she was here earlier and she had a hangover too, and she was wearing the same clothes as you and –"

"It's Lily," LJ interrupted.

"But you called her an ass-kisser, and you normally call Jenny that."

"They're both capable of kissing ass."

"But –"

"Stakeout time?" Tony asked, cutting the Goth off.

"Yes," LJ replied. "Stakeout."


	6. Stakeout

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! I've been having an argument over the term 'desiccated' which is used later, but I am 99% sure it is the right word. More Jenny secret coming up..._

Chapter 6: Stakeout

Lily looked over at her partner for the evening, and smiled. Not her first choice, perhaps, but definitely not her last.

It definitely was not her first choice of location though. Dexter Boxall lived in a seedy apartment next door to a nightclub. It seemed to be a popular place, but she could not see the attraction. She had already seen several hundred things she wanted to erase from her brain.

On the plus side, she was with Tony. McGee and Ziva had taken the first shift, and she had been placed on the second. LJ wanted to try to persuade Jenny to go with him on the third, before McGee and Ziva took over again.

Knowing her luck, she would end up doing two shifts in a row: one with Tony and one with LJ. At least she would have the opportunity to sleep with LJ around.

Tony was still acting uncomfortably around her, although the slight flirting was still present. She wished he would pluck up his usual courage to talk to her. She was not fond of men who couldn't speak for themselves. She was not going to make his life any easier.

"Why did you join the CIA?" Tony finally asked.

Not the question she was expecting, but she could answer it. "I was headhunted."

"Seriously?"

"My Great Aunt was a very good agent, and she mentioned to her boss that I was a handful. Her boss was intrigued, and I got hired."

"That's the short version."

"Pretty much."

They sat in silence for a while longer.

"I give up," Lily announced. "Ask the other question."

"What other question?"

She gave him a glare to rival LJ.

"Oh, that one. Why did you tie me up?"

"Because LJ told you to stop me leaving! I had to leave; lives were depending on it. You're a good kisser, by the way."

"Thanks." She caught his faint blush in the darkness. "As are you."

"I didn't want to tie you up, but I had to do something LJ couldn't fire you for. Tying you up seemed the best option. It probably wasn't my wisest idea, but it worked at the time."

"Is that an apology?"

She smiled. "No, this is. I'm sorry Tony. I honestly could not see another way out of the situation, short of knocking you out."

Silence reigned for another few minutes.

"I still think you're hot though," she added. "If I wasn't engaged…"

* * *

_Thursday evening_

"If you weren't engaged, what?" Alex chuckled.

"He'd only be a plaything," Lily noted. "He's handsome, but he wouldn't challenge me."

"And you need a challenge."

"Damn straight I need a challenge."

* * *

_Tuesday evening_

"Well," Tony smiled. "If you two ever split up…"

"I will let you take me out to dinner," she confirmed.

Her cell phone rang; its jingling ringtone sounding odd in the car. Lily slowly retrieved it, having a funny feeling it was either Arbourne or LJ. She did not really want to deal with them right now.

"When you find me dead," she began, not letting the caller say a word, "My desiccated corpse propped up staring lifelessly through the telescope at drunken frat boys peeing and vomiting into the gutter, just know that my last thoughts were of you. And how I'd like to kill you."

"Mom?!"

"Jasper, honey. You did not hear what I said, okay?"

* * *

Lily snuck into Jenny's office a few hours later, not surprised to find her sister still sitting at her desk, reading a file.

Whenever she was worried, Jenny had a habit of throwing herself into her work. Lily did the same, but was normally aware of what she was doing. Jenny never noticed. Lily did, but only because Charlie called her on it every time.

LJ had not been able to persuade his former partner to go with him. When he had arrived to take over and order Tony to stay, he had asked Lily to go check on her. He had not needed to make it an order; Lily was worried about her too.

But for different reasons. LJ was attempting to work out what was going on, while Lily was trying to sort it out so things could go back to normal.

It was not going to be an easy task. Whoever he was, he was covering his tracks well. He was taking every precaution he could think of. Lily's only real hope was that he would slip up. They could get lucky, but no one was _that_ lucky.

Hope kept her going. Hope, and the desire to smash his skull into tiny pieces. She would sort this out, even if it killed her.

It was all her fault, anyway. She should not have allowed herself to be distracted by mourning her father's passing. She should have stayed alert, asked someone else to help her, _told_ someone else. Her mania for secrecy had led to this, but she'd had good intentions. She didn't mean for this to happen.

"It's midnight," Lily called softly.

Jenny still jumped out of her seat. "Don't do that to me," she warned.

Lily was not concerned. "I've been standing here for the last five minutes. Want some coffee?"

"Please."

Lily disappeared into Cynthia's office and rooted around for a while. It didn't take too long to locate the coffeemaker and find a few mugs. She carried the hot liquid through carefully, not wanting to waste a drop.

"Ta da," she announced, placing it on the edge of the desk.

"Cheers," Jenny muttered, taking a few sips.

"So, what am I missing in the joys of paperwork?"

"Not much. Case files, request forms, complaints, letters."

"I'll take a pile if you want."

"Nearly done anyway."

"You mean you've done what you want to do here, and then you're going to sit down in my spare room and deal with another batch."

Jenny glared at her. "It's none of your business."

"It is every bit of my business. Go home. See the twins. I would, if I were in your position."

"You're not."

"See, the only thing that would hold me back is the concern _he_ might be out there."

That earned her another glare.

"If I take you home, there won't be a problem," Lily continued.

"Everyone wants to kill you," Jenny observed.

"Correct. But I like it that way."

Jenny sighed, finished off her coffee and left the files as they were.

"Good," Lily smiled. "If you want to tell him, you can."

"Who? What?"

"LJ. And you know what."

* * *

The next morning, Lily sat in Ziva's chair, going through her desk.

Chocolate, deodorant, little mints, elastic bands, paper clips, a camera…

A camera!

She started to scroll through the images to pass the time. LJ was busy hitting his keyboard again, cursing under his breath about his favorite coffee shop being closed. What he didn't know was Lily might have 'accidently' cut the power to the place before coming into the Navy Yard.

McGee was sitting in his corner, happily typing something up. She did not know what file it was, and didn't really care. She had spent a good twenty minutes staring at him earlier, trying to work out how someone so smart could be so innocent. She filled away the realization that she was fond of it for later.

Tony was being Tony. He had decided to ring some of Boxall's friends to see if he could get an insight into the man. Of course, this had involved calling all the females on the list first. Lily was enjoying the banter floating over to her desk. The conversation last night appeared to have perked him up, and he wasn't complaining about the serious lack of sleep.

Ziva was on stakeout, but not with McGee. LJ had ordered some analyst named Nikki Jardine to go with her. Lily had feigned ignorance of the woman, not intending to mention she was a source.

Hmm. The camera pictures were interesting. They all seemed to involve Tony in some way. Presumably, they had spent an afternoon larking around with the camera, before Ziva had forgotten all about it.

Steal the photos, not steal the photos. Lily let the internal debate continue for a few minutes before deciding to leave them. She didn't need them and couldn't use them to her advantage. She slipped the camera back into place and carried on searching.

Another pile of rubber bands. Perhaps she should flick them at Tony and see what happened. Or she could make some paper airplanes and throw them around. Or she could let down some tires in the parking garage. Every third car sounded about right. She wouldn't actually deflate the tires, merely give them a slow puncture so the agents would be halfway home before they realized.

She was about to get up and disappear for a few hours, when McGee decided to strike up a conversation.

"Did you see the weather forecast this morning?"

"No, Probie-san," Tony answered for her. "She was too busy with her fiancé. Care to tell us some details?" He grinned at her.

"Ask Alex yourself," she shot back. "I'm sure he'd love to tell you."

"Anyway," McGee interrupted before the discussion could escalate into a fight. "It looks like there's a huge storm coming in."

"Oh really?" Tony replied. "Who cares?"

"No, a _really_ big storm. The sea level's going to rise, low lying areas will flood, the rain will pour down… it's going to be bad."

"Don't worry," Tony smiled at her. "The Probie gets easily scared."

Lily smiled at McGee instead. "Thanks for the warning," she told him.

Tony's phone rang and he answered it rapidly. "Hello? Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo here."

Lily watched his face as the other person spoke. This was not going to be good news…

At last, he replaced the receiver. "Err, boss?"

"Speak, DiNozzo," came the order.

"One of the neighbors reported a commotion last night in Boxall's place. Ziva went to check it out, and found Boxall dead on the floor."


	7. Too Clean

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! I now have a car! And an NCIS hat (I may have opened some of my presents early...)._

Chapter 7: Too Clean

Lily watched as Ducky took the liver temperature.

She did not like being back in Boxall's neighborhood, but she could live with it. The nightclub next door was already open and loud music was pounding out. She was sorely tempted to shut the place on national security grounds. Arbourne wouldn't be happy, but Arbourne was never happy.

LJ was waiting on a confirmed time of death before he blew up at anyone. Lily suspected it would be either her shift or his, and seriously hoped it was his. She wasn't afraid of him yelling at her; it would be nice if she could yell at him over this.

Neither she nor LJ nor Tony had seen anyone entering or leaving. Of course, it hadn't been easy to see through the crowds of people outside the nightclub. Boxall had not made a single appearance. Possibly because he was dead, but was he waiting for someone? Was he murdered?

The body on the floor appeared to have committed suicide. Lily didn't care what it looked like. She'd come across enough supposed suicides to last a lifetime, and she'd faked a few herself. The only thing amiss here was how obvious it appeared.

Boxall had been shot in the head. The gun was still in his hand. There was a big wad of cash in an envelope on the side.

It was too clean for Lily's liking. Far too clean. If this were a real suicide, the money would still be hidden. The gun would be askew and the shot would not have been so clean.

As far as she was concerned, this was murder.

She kept her thoughts to herself, allowing the other agents to come to their own conclusions. She did not want to disturb Ducky until he had finished. She was also curious as to what the other agents thought. Keeping quiet was the best idea.

Ducky sat up and pronounced the verdict. "Some time between 2230 and 0130."

Slap bang in the middle. She hoped it would be angled more LJ's way.

"You can't be any more specific?" LJ checked.

"Time of death is only a rough estimate," Palmer interjected. "There is an allowance made to be safe with the estimate, but –"

"If I had to guess," Ducky interrupted. "I would say around midnight. But, as Mr. Palmer so helpfully explained, it is only an estimate, which is why time is added to either side."

"We can all blame Tony," Lily smirked. "He was the only one on stakeout between those times."

LJ ignored her comment. "Did you see anything suspicious?" he asked her.

"Nope. I'm just the spare pair of hands, mind. Or, in this case, eyes. It was very crowded out the front, so it is possible someone slipped past."

"How busy does next door get every night?" LJ grumbled.

"I rang a friend and checked," she added. "Apparently last night was an average night."

"The club is under surveillance?" LJ questioned. "You could have mentioned this before!"

"The club is not under surveillance," she corrected. "I have a friend who comes most nights. She wasn't present last night, I already checked."

LJ only rolled his eyes.

* * *

Lily observed as the rest of the team searched the apartment.

Ducky and Palmer had carted the body away, leaving the others to do the rest of the work. If this was a suicide, the stolen software should be hidden somewhere.

Of course, this somewhere could be anywhere. There were literally hundreds of places something so small could be hidden. Lily had counted 97 in the bathroom alone. Not everyone was as smart as she was or thought like her. It did narrow the options down somewhat, but everywhere needed to be checked.

She had pointed out at the start that she was only along in case they learnt anything top secret, not to search places. She had curled up in an empty corner with Boxall's cat, Mya. Mya was a very cute black and white kitten, who was enjoying the constant attention Lily was lavishing on her.

Lily liked cats. The Great Aunt had always had one. Dogs simply stank, in her opinion, although they were useful in tracking someone down.

McGee did not like cats. He had started sneezing whenever she was near. Lily found it partly amusing and partly upsetting. She liked McGee as he was, not with a red nose.

The whole place was being turned upside down by four agents. Considering the state it was in before they had arrived, Lily suspected an elephant could have been hidden in the mounds of rubbish. The kitten had only appeared when Tony had moved a broken TV set, making him yell in shock. Lily had found this very amusing.

LJ had taken the kitchen area, and was busy emptying out every packet, tin, box, and so forth in the hope it had been stashed inside. Ziva had taken the bedroom. Judging from the smell, the job was not going to take too long. McGee had chosen the bathroom, simply to be away from the cat. He probably had the easiest job, as the room was tiny. There was not room to swing a cat in there.

Lily laughed at her own joke.

Tony had chosen the living area. It was the biggest, but she was sitting in the corner, giving helpful suggestions every now and then. He had thrown a cushion in her direction so she could sit on something comfortable. They had tried to have a cushion fight, but LJ had noticed and threatened to get Tony to go through the trash outside.

Lily guessed he really wanted her to do it, but he couldn't force her. She would have Arbourne out so quickly it would be untrue. She briefly wondered if she was supposed to update her boss regularly, but remembered that he hadn't mentioned it in her briefing and decided not to. If he wanted details, he could ring her.

After several hours, the team reconvened in the living area. Lily stood up from the corner and put Mya on the floor.

"Anything?" she asked.

McGee shook his head.

LJ rolled his eyes.

Ziva snorted.

"Nope," answered Tony.

"Did anyone find a digital camera?" she checked.

Again, everyone shook their heads.

"Great," she grumbled. "Guess I'm sitting through an autopsy."

* * *

Autopsy was cold, Lily thought. Colder than it should be. Perhaps if it were a little warmer, people would feel more welcome.

It was hard to feel unwanted when Ducky rambled through another story, but it was hard to feel wanted when someone was being cut up in front of you. Lily understood the need for autopsies, but never particularly liked seeing them.

As far as she was concerned, they knew how Boxall had died. It was an obvious gunshot wound to the head. She was more interested in proving it a murder, which was more Abby's job. However, she felt she needed to be present for one main reason.

If Boxall had stolen the tech, it had to be hidden somewhere. It was not in his apartment. If he had been murdered, there was a good chance he had swallowed the tech to stop someone else getting their hands on it. If she was cornered and had no way out, she would have swallowed the tech herself. It would be safe inside her for a few days, or until someone did an autopsy.

Her job was to protect the secrets. Nothing more, nothing less.

Therefore, somewhere in Boxall's body, the tech could lie waiting. If it was, she wanted to be around when it was found. She also wanted to serve as a visual reminder that the tech could be present.

Ducky continued his story about another time when a beautiful lady had swallowed something important to keep it a secret, and how he had discovered it in her autopsy. Lily tuned him out easily. She liked Ducky, but she didn't need to listen to his stories. They only distracted her.

How Palmer could cope with the medical examiner's ramblings was beyond her. If she had to listen to Ducky every day for years on end, she would be plotting a murder. Ducky was a mine of information, but did not seem to realize he could go on a bit. More than a bit.

When Ducky sent Palmer out of the room to visit Abby, she wandered over to the body.

"Bowl's over there, if you need it," Ducky commented.

"Huh?"

"You've turned an interesting shade of green," he pointed out.

"I wasn't born to stare into people's innards," she complained. "I'll be fine."

"Were you aware that during Jennifer's first autopsy –"

"She vomited all over LJ's new shoes? I heard it from both of them. And you told me as well."

"I did?" Ducky stopped poked around with his scalpel and tried to think back.

"In Calais," she prompted.

Ducky continued to look confused.

"Okay, change of topic. Have you found the tech?"

"I can categorically state that he never swallowed it," he replied.

"I'm beginning to suspect he didn't steal it."

"That is not my job," he smiled.

She smiled back. "You can keep your job."

He laughed for a moment before becoming more serious. "How are you coping?"

"You mean after shooting my father?"

"Patricide, or any other killing where you have to kill someone who means a lot to you, is always very difficult."

"He _meant_ a lot to me. He didn't anymore."

"But still."

She considered. "I've been focusing on my job, I guess."

"You need to stop blaming yourself."

"I shot him in cold blood. It wasn't self-defense; it wasn't to save a life. I murdered him, and that isn't going to change."

"As I see it," Ducky remarked. "You killed a very dangerous man. You did your job."


	8. Scary CIA Lady

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! There will be a brief break for Christmas coming up soon, as I will be unable to post for 9 days._

Chapter 8: Scary CIA Lady

Lily had not expected to find herself back at the lab in Norfolk any time soon. She had hoped the tech would be fairly easy to find and she would never have to go near the small, stuffy and full of computers place again.

She was wrong.

Going back to the lab had been LJ's idea. He wanted to see if anyone acted suspiciously when they were informed about Boxall's death. Lily could see his point, but didn't feel this was in her job description. Arbourne had told her she was not to investigate, and she felt this came a little close to investigating.

Nevertheless, someone could decide to break security and tell the agents about Project Indigo. To this end, she had chosen to accompany the team.

And because she was intrigued. This was a puzzling case and she wanted to know what was going on. She would prefer to be running around, causing havoc on a CIA job, but if she could get some enjoyment out of this, she would.

Ziva had been the designated driver for the journey. The girls had taken one car, while LJ and the boys took the other. Lily had enjoyed the high speeds and near-misses; she was used to driving fast for her job and liked being with another experienced driver. They had arrived a full twenty minutes before LJ, giving Lily enough time to buy a coffee and for Ziva to pick up a Berry Mango Madness.

LJ had growled some excuse about traffic being heavy, but Lily wasn't fussed. She'd driven faster in worse traffic before.

Their two remaining suspects had been rounded up and were sitting in the lab. Holland smiled at Lily again and she smiled back. She did not know if she would need to question him later, and it helped if he was still agreeable.

Trotter was a bundle of nervous energy. If he had been allowed to stand, Lily had no doubt he would have been pacing up and down, round and round, driving her insane. Instead, he was fiddling around on his chair, while she wanted to stick him in a straightjacket and scream at him.

Her patience was either like a saint, or nonexistent. She had no middle ground.

"We have some new information," LJ started.

Both suspects looked interested.

"Dexter Boxall died last night in what looks like a suicide."

Not a flicker of anything suspicious. Holland looked shocked, while Trotter looked upset and nervous. The man was permanently nervous as far as Lily was concerned. She would be more worried if he didn't look nervous.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Holland announced. He looked genuinely sorry.

"Have you recovered the tech?" Trotter queried.

LJ stared at him.

"I presume he killed himself because he thought the game was up," spluttered Trotter. "Have you found it?"

"Not yet," Lily answered. "But we're confident it's there."

Nothing like adding a little mind game to the proceedings. If one of these two had killed Boxall, feeling more confident would make them more likely to make a mistake. Lily liked mistakes.

"It might have been sold already," Ziva pointed out.

Lily nodded in agreement. McGee sneezed loudly.

* * *

Lily entered Abby's lab again, happily bobbing her head along with the music.

Ducky had finally confirmed that Boxall had not swallowed the tech, and Lily was now pretty confident it was a murder. LJ had gut feelings; she had feelings too. The suicide stank. She would have staged it much better herself. It stank of an amateur, albeit one with a little training.

She hoped that the training really was only a little. Going up against a fully trained, highly skilled person or persons was fine by her, but she didn't want to have to worry about the NCIS agents at the same time. Skill and mind games only got you so far.

Arbourne had finally found out about someone outrunning a traffic cop in his car, and had immediately called her to have a good yell. She had been expecting it and dutifully listened before telling him to leave her to do her job. He had screamed some more, until she dropped her cell phone in LJ's coffee.

Two birds with one stone.

Lily guessed she would be on toothbrush toilet cleaning duty when she returned to the CIA, but wasn't worried. She was now an expert at it. Arbourne felt the punishment was demeaning, but she didn't. It gave her a chance to think about her next game.

It also gave her a chance to think about other things, like how to get rid of the obstacle that was keeping Jenny and LJ apart. She was going to redouble her efforts and threaten everyone else to do the same. She needed a plan of action, and she would work one out when she was next cleaning.

The music made Lily bounce along to Abby's side, and she watched as the Goth tried to coax her computer.

"Abs!" she called, right into her ear.

Abby jumped. "You're as bad as Gibbs," she complained, eagerly taking the Caf-Pow from Lily's outstretched hands.

"I exist to cause havoc," Lily replied. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to trace the money in Boxall's account."

Lily tried to work it out. "If someone paid him to do the job, you can trace who hired him. If someone killed him and transferred the money to make us look in the wrong direction, you can find out who really stole the tech."

"Correct, scary CIA lady," Abby beamed.

"You find me scary?"

"Well, you are."

"How?"

"You shoot people, you blow things up, and you play with people's heads."

"And that makes me scary?"

"Maybe not scary scary, but still scary."

Lily thought about it. "I don't think in the same fashion as everyone else, and thus I must be labeled as scary."

"You blew yourself up," Abby reminded her.

"Something you don't tend to forget," Lily added. "I had a good reason for doing so."

"Because you wanted to catch your even scarier father."

"He needed to be caught."

"You killed him."

Lily stared at her for a moment. "How long before you trace the money?"

Abby took a little longer to catch up. "Err, not long, hopefully. But this guy is –"

Lily left before Abby could get too involved in her speech. She'd heard all she needed to hear.

* * *

The squad room was getting quiet as people left for the night. Lily bounced a small ball on the floor.

LJ had given it to her and ordered her to amuse herself. After throwing it at various agents, Jenny had appeared out of nowhere and threatened her sister with a knife. Nonplussed, Lily had begun bouncing it on the floor. If she couldn't annoy anyone directly, she would annoy them indirectly.

It was helping her to relax. The repetitive motion was very calming, and had a soothing quality to it. She knew the people living underneath her would be driven mad if she took this back to her apartment, and hoped it was having a similar affect on the people on the lower floor here. Jenny couldn't get angry over this.

Tony was finding out everything about Boxall. This mainly involved him ringing people up and asking questions. If Lily wanted information on someone, she just asked someone else to do it for her.

Ziva was busy trying to work out who could buy the tech. It would require quite a lot of money to purchase, and LJ was determined to stop the tech from leaving the country. Lily privately felt it was already gone, but kept such a depressing thought to herself. The others did not need to hear it.

McGee had left for Abby's lab, to help her trace the money in Boxall's account. This was something else that needed to be dealt with urgently, and it needed someone with specialist skills. Lily usually went to harass the techs when she wanted something traced.

It was nice being with a team. She was used to wandering all over CIA headquarters with her 'requests', and having to beg, blackmail or harass people into doing jobs for her. Here, everyone helped everyone else. They worked together, for a single objective. They helped each other when they needed help, encouraged each other and praised each other.

The CIA definitely had its advantages though. She could do what she liked, when she liked, and with virtually no one to stop her. She could do everything her way and stay in control.

She liked control.

"I have found something," Ziva proclaimed.

"Do tell," Lily answered, continuing to bounce the ball.

"A contact of mine says that if anyone was to buy the software, it would be Ben Thomas. He does not know where our target is though."

"I could ask around," Lily offered. "I've heard the name before. Maybe one of our lot is following him."

Tony slammed the phone down. "Metro didn't have a file on Boxall, boss. Said he was mugged a few days ago, someone stole his camera. Only time his name ever cropped up."

LJ glared at him.

"It was worth a try though," Tony added.

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm going to find a few sources," she said, standing up and pocketing the ball. "I suggest you get some sleep before tomorrow. I have a feeling it's going to be a long day."


	9. Regulations

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! Some answers for you now..._

Chapter 9: Regulations

Lily sighed as she entered her apartment. She kicked her heels off, and sank down onto the couch. After a long day, she could really use some –

"Chinese?" Alex asked, appeared from the kitchen. "I ordered half an hour ago; it should be here soon."

* * *

_Thursday evening_

"I remember this part," Alex noted. "You do not need to remind me."

"I'm still working through my memories," Lily pointed out. "You can tell me if I get anything wrong."

"Yes, oh great one," he smirked.

She sipped her coffee and thought for a few moments.

* * *

_Wednesday evening_

"Cheers," Lily replied. "I hate NCIS."

"You hate them?"

"I don't hate them. I want to be back with the CIA. I want Arbourne to scream in my face. I want to bug Darlene. I want to risk life and limb –"

"A break can recharge your batteries."

Lily shook her head softly.

On one level, she liked NCIS. They were friendly, they fell for her games, they let her do what she wanted. But the CIA was a part of her. She felt home there. Everyone knew her and knew what she was capable of. When she pulled off something spectacular, everyone talked about it for weeks on end. When she was in the hospital, people came to visit her. They left flowers on her desk.

It was nice to feel wanted.

When she was stressed, she slept under her desk. When she'd had a hard day, she and Darlene had a fight. When she was feeling depressed, she did something to annoy Arbourne. When she couldn't sleep, she stayed in the operations room and kept everyone on their toes. When she was told to take a week off or they would forcibly eject her from the building, she covered for Jenny.

She loved her job, just as Jenny loved hers. Whereas Jenny knew how to relax, Lily didn't allow herself to. Lily enjoyed a challenge, something to sink her teeth into. She loved complicated, time consuming things.

She was a people person. She played with people's heads, got them to do what she wanted. She couldn't play her favorite games with Jenny around, because Jenny got very annoyed.

"Perhaps you can risk life and limb with NCIS," Alex mused, sitting on the couch next to her.

She curled into his side. "It's not the same. It could never be the same. I'd even take Archives duty over this. I'm not supposed to investigate, just babysit."

He rubbed her side gently. "Do you need anything?"

"I might take a bath later. What do you know about Ben Thomas?"

"Low level weapons dealer, but he does not only deal in weapons."

"They never do."

"Information, secrets…"

"Technology?"

"Without a doubt."

"Have you ever heard of Project Indigo?"

"I know of its existence and what it is supposed to do, but I am unaware of how it proceeds."

"It proceeds well," she whispered. "Very well."

"Then it would be worth a lot of money to the right buyer," Alex muttered. "Ben Thomas is something of a mystery."

Lily pulled out her cell phone and speed dialed a number. "Charlie? Ben Thomas is in the country. Find him, and stick someone on his tail. Call me when it's done." She hung up before he could reply.

"He could have been with a girl," Alex remarked. "He might not have heard you."

"Not my problem," she murmured, snuggling down again.

* * *

Lily was getting sick of the squad room by the next morning. It was so… samey. If she was back at the CIA, she could run around the building five times and see something completely different on each pass. People moved around, they moved furniture every two minutes, wild animals had been known to wander the halls.

That had been Darlene's doing, not hers.

Still, the Navy Yard got boring after a while. LJ always sat at the same desk and was always in charge. He always had his coffee with him, and he always went to get a new one when he ran out. He always had problems with his computer and he always worked diligently.

Ziva was always at the same desk. She was either on the phone or working on her computer. She always spoke in different languages, always threatened to kill people in the same unimaginative way, and always tormented Tony.

Tony also used the same desk every day. He always spent most of his time on the phone, when he was actually working. Otherwise, he was usually harassing McGee or flirting with Ziva or trying to come up with things to do that didn't actually involve working.

McGee was always to be found in the same place. He was always tapping away at his keyboard. He was always friendly and happy. He was always innocent and obedient.

Why did everyone insist on using the same desks? Because of a strange shortage within the CIA, everyone was always stealing everyone else's desk. Probie's often fared worse as they were not used to shifting a desk three floors and the other end of the building when someone left for coffee. Once, for a dare, Lily had stolen the Director's desk. It had taken two weeks before anyone had figured it out, and another month before they traced it to her.

Stupid really. She should have been their number one suspect.

Everyone here was always doing the same jobs. At the CIA, Lily was used to multi-tasking. She could analyze documents and information, translate things, write reports, hold briefings and conduct surveillance, while doing her main job at the same time. If she couldn't do it herself, she knew twenty people who could do it instead. These people stayed in the same roles every day.

"Your sources give you anything on Ben Thomas?" LJ growled in her general direction.

"They haven't been able to find him yet," she answered truthfully.

"Tell them to –"

"They do know where he'll be at 1900 though," she interrupted.

LJ raised his eyebrows.

"He has a meeting in a cave somewhere along the beach in Virginia."

"McGee!"

McGee started typing away. "Do you know anything that could help us narrow the area down?"

"Big cave system," Lily offered. "Not far from Virginia Beach."

McGee continued to type. "I've got three possibles," he told her.

"Let me see."

Lily stared at the screen for a few moments. "That one," she pointed. "I'm sure it's that one."

"I don't want to know how you know," LJ noted.

"That would be correct," Lily smirked.

"This storm's going to hit around that time," McGee remarked. "It's going to be a big one."

* * *

Lily followed LJ into Abby's lab just after midday. They were supposed to be leaving for the cave soon, and Lily was anxious to get a head start on Ben Thomas. If he arrived before they did, things could spiral out of control very rapidly.

The omnipresent music was pumping out, the bass cranked up to the maximum. Lily was feeling a little magnanimous and decided not to interfere for the time being. If it helped Abby get the job done, she could put up with it.

Abby pounced on LJ the moment she spotted him and snatched the Caf-Pow from his hands. She slurped half of it down without stopping, leaving Lily time to look around the lab.

Bert the hippo was sitting next to the computer and Lily fought the urge to steal it. Jasper would love a farting hippo, but it really summed up Abby and her eclectic tastes. To steal him would be wrong of her.

McGee was also present, having been sent down by LJ after locating the cave. He wanted the money traced as soon as possible, and definitely before they left. It was too urgent to wait.

"We've cracked it, _el jefe_!" Abby announced proudly.

"We?" McGee complained. "I cracked it."

"We cracked where the money was sent from," Abby continued, as if she hadn't heard him.

"Where?" LJ asked.

"Holland," Lily answered.

"How did you know…? Ah, because you are the scary CIA lady," the Goth decided.

"Kieran Holland?" LJ checked.

"Erm, yes," Abby pronounced. "He placed a large sum of money in Boxall's account so we'd get suspicious of Boxall."

"Thus giving him enough time to sell the software and leave the country before we caught him," Lily concluded.

LJ frowned. "We knew the suicide wasn't a suicide, but he must have known we'd figure it out."

"One problem," Lily grinned. "Boxall's camera was stolen before his death. When we searched the apartment, we should have found a digital camera and I should have rushed off to get it checked. It would have to be done in a secure location with people who were read in. By the time we'd actually looked at what was on the card and discovered the pictures, the real software would have been sold."

"Someone stole his camera?" Abby pouted. "That's so sad."

"Metro told Tony it was reported stolen two days before his death," Lily told her. "If there was a camera in that place, I would have checked the pictures there and then. If the memory card was separate, I still might have checked it."

"He was counting on us following regulations," LJ realized.

"I always follow the regs," Lily smiled innocently.


	10. The Cave

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! Very happy as I've finished another story today!_

Chapter 10: The Cave

Lily hid behind a rock at the back of the cave. Ziva was a few feet away, behind another rock.

They had all arrived a few hours ago, and decided to enter the cave early. It was long but narrow, and already starting to fill with water. The storm McGee had warned about was nearby. Outside, Lily could hear the wind roaring and the rain pelting down. She was extremely glad she was out of it.

Her only concern was that the meeting might be cancelled with this weather. Either party might choose to stay indoors or arrange a different location. If this were the case, she would be freezing her butt off for nothing.

The rising water was niggling at the back of her mind. As long as the meeting was conducted on time, there should be just about enough time to arrest everyone and get out. If it ran late or was cancelled, things would spiral out of control rapidly.

She vaguely recalled a few horror stories of fast-rising water killing everyone in cave systems, and forced down her panic. They would be fine. It rarely happened. The only reason she knew about these incidents was because she knew someone who had died that way. She was going to survive. LJ would survive since he was practically invincible, and his team would not die unless they were given permission.

So why was she still worried?

LJ was somewhere to her left and McGee was somewhere to her right. Tony had chosen to stick near the cave entrance to cut it off. Lily felt the water was doing a good enough job of that. If it continued to rise for much longer, the deal would definitely be off.

A scrabbling outside was her only warning as someone entered the cave. Judging by the cologne, it was Kieran Holland. She decided not to stick her head out just yet, but to wait as see if Ben Thomas arrived too. If they nabbed Holland before Thomas, Thomas might make a run for it. Alex would appreciate it if she could get Thomas.

* * *

_Thursday evening, in the SUV_

"You really think I would appreciate it if you got Thomas?" Alex wondered.

"Considering you now work for the CIA, I'd be more worried if you didn't," she told him.

Alex shrugged his shoulders. "The man is a brute. He deserves to be put in prison for a long time."

* * *

_Thursday evening, two hours earlier_

Holland moved around for a while trying to keep warm. Just as Lily had decided to grab him and the tech anyway, another scrabbling indicated another arrival.

"Ben," Holland greeted the newcomer.

Definitely Ben Thomas then. A good start. They were both here. Lily knew the plane was to let the deal proceed so they could actually arrest Thomas on a real charge. Lily had a few stuffed up her sleeve in case things went wrong.

"You got what I want?" Thomas growled.

Arms dealers. Always so curt. Never any time for pleasantries.

* * *

_Thursday evening, in the SUV_

Alex elbowed Lily. "No time for pleasantries? I seduced you, remember?"

"I remember," she smirked. "I also remember that you were a good guy on the wrong side. Most arms dealers I run into are incredibly rude."

"How many arms dealers have you run into then?" he queried.

She elbowed him back.

* * *

_Thursday evening, two hours earlier._

"I need more money," Holland demanded.

"We agreed on the price," Thomas retorted.

"Yeah, the price never included staging a suicide."

"Not my problem."

"I got NCIS on my back. I thought they were all doughnut eating rent-a-cops, but they're smart. I think I got the redhead on my side –"

'_Oh how wrong you are_,' Lily mused.

"– but the older guy, he looked like he would kill me. His eyes see right through you."

"Still not my problem," Thomas replied. "Give me the tech."

"I had to put my fee in someone else's account so they wouldn't spot it!" Holland roared. "I need more money."

"Then we don't have a deal. Go find someone else."

Thomas made to leave the cave, but Holland shot him in the back. Everyone immediately leapt out from their hiding places and pointed their guns at Holland.

"Drop the gun," Ziva ordered.

* * *

A standoff had ensued. Holland threatened to destroy the tech, while everyone else threatened to shoot him. Lily did not want to take the risk of the software hitting the water, but could live with it if it prevented the theft.

The water was now swirling around her waist and it was hard to move. It was hard to even stay upright. The current tried to drag her under. She knew Ziva would be experiencing similar problems, but the men were heavier and could stay upright for longer.

Unfortunately, Holland counted as a man.

The water meant she couldn't try any fast moves. Even slow ones were seriously hampered. At least it disadvantaged both sides.

Another wave tried to knock her off her feet, and she realized she would have to negotiate fast to get out of here.

"Hand over the tech and I won't shoot you," she yelled. Negotiation wasn't her strong suit.

"I'll destroy it," he warned.

"I don't give a damn if you destroy it," she tried. "As long as you don't sell it, you can do what you like with it."

"If I give it to you, you'll let me go?" he asked.

"Not a chance," LJ barked. "You murdered Boxall; you're coming into custody."

"My freedom for the tech," Holland bargained.

Lily rolled her eyes and shot him square between the eyes. He hit the water face down.

"What did you do that for?" LJ roared as she waded over and plucked the software from his hand.

"Even if we managed to arrest him," she shouted back. "What would we do with him?"

"Take him back to NCIS," Tony offered.

"How?" she yelled. "The entrance is submerged."

* * *

Lily had been paying close attention to the mouth of the cave. Before they had entered, she had worked out that if the entrance was entirely submerged, it would be too far to swim to get out without drowning.

As the confrontation had continued, she had noticed that the entrance had vanished. She immediately shot Holland, as she had no further use for him. He was going to die anyway and she had just done him a favor.

Now she had to protect the tech and help LJ's team to survive. Not the easiest task in the world, but she had a few ideas.

The water continued to rise and she fought down her panic. She was going to get through this and scream at Arbourne for putting her in so much danger. She was going to scream at LJ for dragging her along. She was going to scream at Darlene to make her feel better.

The storm was still not on top of them. It would take an hour or so longer for the eye to hit. The cave would continue to fill with water for a while longer.

Damn.

Part of her was glad to be in the cave rather than outside. Outside she would have to deal with the wind and rain as well, although it was becoming increasingly likely she would drown in here.

But she couldn't.

She waded towards the back of the cave, the others following. It sloped up slightly, so the water appeared lower. Lily estimated the water would rise to cover the roof of the cave. She wanted to vent all her fear in a long scream, but it would scare the others. And anyway, she had a plan.

Being prepared was a CIA motto. Any agent who didn't research or prepare would not last long. Before she had got in the car with LJ to come out here, she had researched the cave system. At one point, someone had charted most of it. She presumed this was the reason Holland and Thomas had picked it as their meeting place. It was out the way, but well known.

"Okay," she addressed the others. "Notice how this water is fairly warm?"

They all nodded. "We're going to drown, not freeze to death," Tony pointed out.

"Au contraire," she grinned. "I've read all your files so I know you can all swim."

"The entrance is submerged," Ziva added. "We cannot swim out of here."

"We don't swim out, we swim up."

They stared at her. "Explain," LJ demanded.

"The cave system is extensive," she told them. "It goes up through the cliff. If you allow the water to carry you upwards…"

"We're in with a chance," McGee concluded. "A slim one."

"Better than nothing at all," she countered. "I don't know about you, but I'm going to let the water carry me upwards. If we can tread water for long enough, the water levels will go down and we can get out."

"How long?" Tony asked.

She totted the figures up in her head. Out the corner of her eye, she could see McGee doing the same. He beat her to it.

"Three hours," he announced. "Maybe a little longer."

Lily nodded her head as she reached the same conclusion.

"Allow the very water that wants to drown us to keep us safe," Tony commented. "Anyone else see the irony?"


	11. Rising Damp

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen!_

_Important Note: I know it's very bad of me to leave you on a mini cliffhanger, but I have been reliably informed that the computer at home now takes 25 minutes from start up to being connected to the Internet. I simply cannot update on a regular basis while I am home for the holidays. In my defence, I will attempt to put up 2 Christmas stories on Christmas Day itself, and I will try to answer Reviews, PMs and emails. I also plan to work on EveryDay Thoughts and How To Kill Leon Vance. Sorry everyone!_

Chapter 11: Rising Damp

Lily kept her head as she was swept off her feet. It was her only chance of survival.

The water was fairly warm, although she wished it were warmer. Her clothes wouldn't conserve any heat and they were plastered to her skin already. Her heels were waterlogged, but their familiar weight was comforting and she didn't want to get rid of them just yet.

Perhaps if the situation deteriorated further, she would revise her opinion.

When this was over, she planned to spend a few hours in her nice warm shower. She would take a bath, but it might remind her of this too much. She needed to feel clean again. Why this was not making her feel clean was beyond her, but she decided to ponder it later. There were more important things to worry about now.

Her hair was sticking around her face and she brushed it out of her eyes. She needed to see what was going on, even though it was dark. The only light came from their torches. Lily hoped that the torches were waterproof, but guessed they weren't.

Oh well. At least she wasn't scared of the dark. The CIA tended to cure most phobias. Although her snake phobia still existed, but she didn't mention that to anyone. If LJ or Darlene found out about it…

Charlie knew, because he needed to know. Arbourne had his suspicions. Jasper knew, only because she had found a huge snake in the bath one day and screamed the place down. He had found it funny, and she couldn't fault her son for his reaction. It had given them a good opportunity to talk about phobias.

LJ was suddenly swept of his feet by a big wave and Lily chuckled. "I thought you'd last a lot longer," she confessed. "Being a big, strong ex-marine and all."

She was treated to a furious glare.

"I mean McGee's still on his feet," she continued.

Tony laughed at that one. "I thought the boss would be the last too."

LJ turned his glare onto his agent; Tony slapped the back of his own head.

Lily didn't quite understand why LJ slapped his agents on the back of the head. He didn't do it to her, probably because he knew what her reaction would be. He would be lucky to be left with all his limbs. His boat might not survive either.

He also didn't slap Jenny. He had done, a few times, back at the start of their partnership. But he had stopped before he knew of her existence, so it wasn't her. Maybe he found a better way to deal with Jenny. Though if that was the case, why didn't he try it on her? His glares did not scare her either.

Not even Arbourne could do that. And Arbourne was capable of scaring Darlene.

Finally, McGee was swept of his feet and he joined the others who were all treading water.

"We need to start close," Lily urged. "The closer we are, the more we can help each other."

"You going to tread water for me?" Tony checked.

Lily was tempted to snort, but suspected it would only get a large amount of water up her nose and LJ would find it funny. "Encouragement," she corrected. "Together, we can keep our spirits up."

"Sounds like we need Abby," McGee suggested.

Lily smiled; the Goth would certainly keep everyone happy.

LJ decided to start giving orders. "Discard everything you can. Guns, knives, cameras, etcetera. The agency can buy new ones. Your lives are more important right now."

Lily reached down carefully and started disposing of her weapons. Gun at her hip, second gun by her left foot, three knives concealed in different places. For good measure, she removed her watch, which was supposed to function up to 600 meters underwater but had already stopped. She continued to wear her heels, still not willing to part with them.

As an extra precaution, she swallowed the tech. Her hand had not been the best place for it. Although her stomach was not the most suitable option either, it was the best of all those available to her.

* * *

The water carried them all upwards, and they focused on keeping their heads above the water. Due to their weight, Lily and Ziva found it easier than the men. Ziva was like a fish, while Lily had swum for her life before.

This was getting seriously out of hand. Lily's first priority had to be the tech, as far as she was concerned. Her swallowing it was providing protection for now, but would that remain if she drowned? Would they be able to find her body? If her body was swept out to sea, would they find it?

She made up her mind. She had to do this.

"I'm going to swim for help," she announced.

Tony spluttered. "You're kidding? It's suicidal. That's why we didn't try swimming out the cave entrance."

"Sydney Opera House is still standing," she pointed out. "I will survive. Even if you ignore that argument, the tech needs to get out of here. If my body ends up trapped somewhere, they will never recover the tech."

"She has a good point," Ziva concurred. "If you wish to leave, I will not stop you."

"Hang on a minute –" Tony started.

Ziva cut him off. "The most important thing is the tech, Tony. It does not matter whether we survive or not. The tech comes first."

"Cheery," Tony complained.

Lily looked over at McGee, but he was completely focused on staying afloat. She turned her gaze to LJ.

"I think you should go," he told her. "If you can get us some help, that would be great. If not, at least the tech is safer."

Lily nodded, her mind made up. "I'm going."

* * *

Lily forced herself to remain calm as she prepared to swim. It didn't help that the water was still rising, making her journey even longer by the second.

She thought about Jasper and Alex and how much she loved them. She thought about her former husband and how proud he would be of her if he was still here. She thought about Arbourne and whether he would scream at her over this or pat her on the back. She thought about Jenny and their unique bond. She thought about her nieces and all the things she could teach them.

She thought about her regrets. Surprisingly, these were few and far between. Her father's death a few months ago, her choice to leave her son behind, her stupidity in letting Jenny get hurt. Not many, but not none either.

She did not want to die as she still had things to do. Harass Darlene, increase Arbourne's blood pressure, cheat death again, watch her son and her nieces grow up, marry Alex, be there for Jenny, train Charlie, and harass LJ. Most of her list she did on a daily basis anyway, but some would take more time.

She looked around at the others and realized she would miss them. Even though she was only swimming for help, she would prefer it if they were with her. She knew they would die if they attempted to follow. She had to do this alone; she was the only one who could do this.

She smiled warmly at them. "Wish me luck!" Then she dived under the surface.

There was more light than she expected, making it easy for her to see where she was swimming. She kicked hard and swam back into the main cave.

Her lungs were screaming for air already. She aimed for the top of the cave and found an air pocket. Only her nose could fit against the cave roof, and she kept calm as she took in more oxygen. When she felt refreshed, she forced herself to continue.

Keeping close to the roof in case she found another pocket of air, she swam on. She hit her ankle hard against a rock and twisted it out of the way. She felt pain flare and realized she had managed to twist her ankle. Resisting the urge to swear and lose valuable oxygen, she found another air pocket.

Again, only her nose fit against the cave roof, and she stayed calm as she breathed. This time, a plant she couldn't quite identify brushed her nose and she tried not to sneeze. That would be disastrous. She took her time before she went back underwater. This time she would have to swim through the cave entrance, a distance she was not happy with. She would also hit the ocean outside. The currents there would be stronger and the waves would try to crush her against the cliff face. There was no room for error.

She kicked off when she was ready, and swam as fast as she could. Her lungs were screaming as she saw the surface above her. Only a few more feet…

She managed to get in a deep breath before a wave crashed over her head. Not good. She swam away from the cliff, using every last bit of strength she could find within her. She continued north, towards the beach she knew existed. She was almost there and she could get help for the others…

Something hit the back of her head and she fell into darkness.

* * *

_Final A/N: Please review? (starts running)_


	12. Back to the Present

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! And I'm back! Still struggling to get over a nasty bout of the flu, but back. Hope this makes up for my absense._

Chapter 12: Back to the Present

_Thursday evening, in the SUV_

Lily fell silent after talking for the last hour. Her throat was sore, but the coffee she was sipping made her feel a little better.

Even though it was cold.

She had finally warmed up and stopped shivering. Her heels were in the back seat, and she made a mental note to stuff them with newspaper later to see if she could salvage them. She didn't want to have to break in a new pair.

Her hair had started to dry, and was clinging to her face. She longed for a hairdryer to sort it out properly, but it was low on her list of priorities. She wanted a scalding hot cup of coffee before she did anything else, although she was aware it would be impossible.

The fog had lifted from her mind. Part of her wished it was still there. LJ and his team were trapped in a cave and she had no idea if they were alive or not by now. She guessed it had been two hours since she had left them, and wanted nothing more than to dive back into the ocean and find them. She was fully aware it would be suicide, which held her back.

She felt horribly sick, probably caused by all the seawater she must have swallowed. The tech was safe, for now, lodged in her stomach with disgusting water from the ocean and a nice cup of coffee. At least it was not LJ's idea of coffee, which would completely destroy the tech.

Alex leant over and gently probed the back of her head. She winced as he found the bump. He drew her closer and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead.

"What made you come out here?" she whispered. If he had not found her, there was no doubt she would be lying dead on the beach somewhere.

"Jenny called," he whispered back. "Said you were in trouble. Her lab tech… Abby?... was able to tell me where you were heading."

"She's on her way out here too," Lily grinned. "Should only take a few more minutes."

Alex shook his head. She knew he was still getting used to the sister's connection.

Lily snagged his cell phone from his belt and started tapping in a number. "Hey!" he protested.

"Need to talk to Arbourne," she defended. "He needs to know the tech is safe."

"I would not call your stomach 'safe'," he teased.

She rolled her eyes and let the phone ring.

"Will you get a connection with this storm?" Alex asked.

The phone was answered with a curt "What?!"

"Louis… I mean Loius. How are things?" Lily inquired, putting the phone on speaker so Alex could listen in.

"Agent Shepard, just the person I wanted to talk to," her boss growled.

"I didn't do it."

"I think I have a good suspect in mind when half the toilets in the CIA have exploded!" he roared.

She smirked, knowing he could not see her. "You put me on babysitting duty," she countered. "I need to hone my skills."

"You blew up the Director's private toilet when he was sitting on it!" came the answering explosion. "I was called into his office, Darlene was called into his office –"

"Why wasn't Darlene the number one suspect?" Lily interrupted him mid-rant.

"Because Darlene was in Nevada at the time! You are still in the state!"

"I'm actually in Virginia."

"You are still nearer!" he yelled. "You have an hour to get to my office. Starting from now!"

"What about the tech?" she asked sweetly.

"I think the Director is more concerned about picking porcelain shards from his backside than missing tech!"

"It's no longer missing," she told him.

"Then where is it?"

"In my stomach. I swallowed it."

"You'd better have a damn good reason for that!"

"I was stuck in a cave and about to drown?"

"If I didn't know you better, I'd call that a lie."

"You only know better because you've read my case reports."

"Are you debating semantics with me?!"

"Nope, Loius. I need a little more than an hour to get back to you. Make it three and we'll be fine." She hung up before he could formulate a response.

* * *

Lily watched through the windshield as another car pulled up. She didn't need to glance at the plate to see who it was. She could only think of one person who would be stupid enough to drive in this weather.

Jenny.

And herself, but she counted as Jenny and she was already out.

Alex rolled his eyes as he saw her sister climb out of the car and make her way over to the SUV. He was on the phone with the coastguard, letting them know they had four NCIS agents in a flooded cave. The idiot on the other end had initially decided it was a hoax, but Alex had insisted on speaking to his supervisor.

Jenny pulled open the back door and clambered into the back seat. "Awful weather," she commented.

"Tell me something I don't know," Lily replied.

"Did you go swimming or something?" Jenny puzzled.

"Let's stick with the swimming for now," her sister shot back.

"Where's Jethro?"

Lily waved a hand towards the ocean.

"You had better be kidding."

"Nope. LJ and his team are out there somewhere. Don't worry, the coastguard are coming."

Jenny decided to ignore the 'don't worry' part. "Is he going to be okay? What happened? Why didn't you keep him safe?"

Lily snorted. "Keep LJ safe? You've got to be kidding me. Have you _ever_ been able to get him to change his mind?"

Jenny shook her head.

"I need coffee," Lily continued. "Please tell me you bought some."

"Sorry, didn't know you'd need any."

"Hey! I always need coffee!"

Alex chuckled at the mock argument. "The coastguard is coming," he soothed Jenny. "They will get your team out."

"They'd better hurry up," Lily muttered. "They've been down there a while now."

"You are not helping," Alex hissed.

Lily raised her voice so it could be heard in the back seat. "The storm is starting to abate. The coastguard should be here any minute, and we can stand outside and watch them if you want. I think there's an umbrella in the trunk."

* * *

Lily stood with Jenny a short distance from the water's edge. Jenny was using a pair of binoculars to watch the coastguard, while Lily was talking to them via Alex's cell phone. She was trying to direct them to the cave; easier said than done when the huge waves were kicking up a spray against the cliffs.

She hoped the others were okay. LJ reminded her of Superman and she knew there was no kryptonite around. Tony was a survivor; nothing had killed him yet and he was only the second person she knew to contract the plague. Ziva had been through many similar incidents and would get through this one. McGee… well, the others wouldn't leave him behind.

She took a deep breath to calm herself. They would be fine. LJ would not give them permission to die and they always followed his orders. If Jenny were there, she might not obey, but his team would be fine.

Lily hunted for the bright side. If LJ's team died, he would have to hire new people. He would not like that and she could harass him over it. Plus she could try to sneak someone in there that she trusted. Sometimes LJ needed to be restrained for his own good. If LJ died… she struggled to think. Jenny would hit the roof. Well… he wouldn't find out what Jenny wanted to keep secret from him.

Surely that had to count for something.

One wave came perilously close to her feet, and both sisters took a step back. Alex was still holed up in the SUV, on the phone with Arbourne again. The rain had stopped and the sun was attempting to poke its way through the clouds. Lily hoped it would come out; she needed some cheering up.

She was fighting the urge to curl up in the back of the SUV and go to sleep. Fatigue and exhaustion were setting in and she wanted to sleep for the next few days. Actually, she wanted to burn the clothes she was wearing first, drink a gallon of coffee, shower for a few hours, and then sleep for a few days.

She knew from experience that her wishes were no good. Arbourne would need a report as soon as possible. Jenny would want one as well. She needed to get the tech out of her stomach; she doubted Arbourne would let nature take its course. And her Director would want to chew her out over the exploding toilets.

Could no one take a joke nowadays?

"I can see an opening in the cliff over there," Jenny pointed. "Is that the cave?"

Lily handed the cell phone over to Jenny and took the binoculars. Peering through them, she sought out the gap…

"Yes," she confirmed. "The entrance is open."

Jenny passed this on to the coastguard, who didn't seem aware that they were dealing with someone else. The sisters were used to the confusion and it no longer bothered them. Unless they were dating someone, that was.

They took it in turns to watch as the rescuers entered. Finally, they got an update.

"Three men and one woman, all alive and conscious," came the report. "We're taking them to Bethesda to be checked out."

Lily and Jenny cheered on the beach.


	13. Epilogue

_Thanks to my wonderful beta Kristen! Final chapter of TOS... The next story is entitled Shadows in the Night, and is my shortest yet (only 11 chapters!). Back to the usual character persepctives. Look out for it soon..._

Chapter 13: Epilogue

Lily stood in Arbourne's office, waiting for her boss to show up. She had called him when she was five minutes out and given him notice of her arrival, but it seemed he was too busy kissing the Director's porcelain-filled butt to deal with her.

This could only be a good thing.

It had been twelve hours since the rescue of LJ's team. She had managed to have a shower and drink a few big mugs of coffee, but she had not managed to make it to Bethesda. Jenny had stayed with her agents, mainly LJ. Lily, being the wonderful sister that she could be when she wanted to, had covered Jenny's absence at NCIS without anyone realizing.

She was seriously craving a nice long sleep, and hoped Arbourne would give her a chance to take a few days off. She doubted it, but it was worth a try. Perhaps if he walked in to find her asleep in his chair…

No, she'd done that before. Her best bet was to keel over in the middle of the debriefing and get rushed to Bethesda herself. She couldn't be admitted to a local hospital easily; because she and Jenny looked identical, the doctors automatically transferred her to Bethesda.

Arbourne finally stormed through the door and fixed her with a glare. She had been expecting it, and had plastered her best 'innocent' look on her face.

"Jeez, Lily. You look like death warmed up," he greeted her.

"I feel like it," she admitted.

"Why were you not taken to the hospital yourself?" he asked, sitting down in his chair.

"I'll live," she told him. She held out her hand. "The tech."

He carefully took it from her.

"I have no idea if it's still operational," she continued. "But at least it isn't in the wrong hands."

He gave her a piercing look, trying to see through her. "We can talk about this tomorrow," he decided. "However, I need you to take care."

"I'm only going to go home and sleep," she protested.

"Not that. Whatever it is that you're successfully sliding under the radar."

She was completely unconcerned and it showed on her face.

"Do you have anything to tell me, Agent Shepard, either on or off the record?"

"No," she answered.

He stared at her for a few more minutes. "Go. I don't want to see you until Monday. You'll be on Archives duty if I do."

"Understood."

* * *

Lily chose not to go straight home, but to call in Bethesda instead. She didn't want to be checked out; her desire was to visit the others.

She walked down the halls, ignoring the confused looks the nurses were giving her. Evidently, they thought she was Jenny. She had no intention of correcting them as it gave her the access she needed.

She found LJ checking out. From the argument she heard two corridors away, he didn't think he should have been admitted in the first place as he was fine, and anyway the rest of his team hadn't been admitted. The doctor was trying to persuade him to stay, to no avail.

She knew the moment she had been spotted. The doctor stared at her, and started glancing between her and Jenny, who was standing by LJ's side. Lily smiled broadly and walked over.

"Can I steal JL for a moment?" she asked LJ.

"Only if you can get me out of here," he growled.

She reached for her badge and flashed it at the doctor. "This man in under my protection and he needs to be removed from this hospital and into my custody," she lied effortlessly. "If you want confirmation, ring Agent Ellis at the CIA." She scribbled down the number for the doctor and let him leave to call Charlie. Her partner knew the drill and would confirm anything.

Her second job done, she returned to her first and pulled Jenny aside.

"Did you tell him?" she asked.

Jenny shook her head. "I can't tell him."

"Why?"

"You know why."

The doctor returned, confirming that LJ could leave. Lily watched her sister and LJ walk out of the exit and into the big wide world. She hoped they could patch things up, but knew it would take some time. And a big secret needed to come out first…

THE END


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